A celebration, multiple melees, and high-paced hockey made for an entertaining afternoon outing.
The Detroit Red Wings played Atlantic Division rival Ottawa for only the second time this season on Sunday, Jan. 18, and the first time at Little Caesars Arena.
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The Wings rallied from an early deficit but blew a later lead against the Senators to force the game past regulation. Alex DeBrincat then scored 36 seconds into overtime to give the Wings a 4-3 victory.
The Wings won the first game, in Ottawa, earlier this month, and there are two more on the menu: In Ottawa in February, and in Detroit in March. The Senators are toiling near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but with their No. 1 goalie, Linus Ullmark, expected back on the ice soon, that might change.
Ottawa Senators right wing Claude Giroux and Detroit Red Wings center Mason Appleton grab each other in the first period at Little Caesars Arena, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.
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The victory brought Detroit to 30 on the season as the Red Wings (30-16-4) kept pace with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who also won Sunday, atop the Atlantic and the Eastern Conference. (The Lightning have played three fewer games than the Wings, while the Metropolitan-leading Carolina Hurricanes, also with 64 points, have played one fewer.) The Wings have a couple days off before heading to Toronto to face the struggling Maple Leafs in a nationally televised game on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., TNT).
An honor and an assist for Patrick Kane
Sunday’s affair between the Wings and Sens began with a celebration: Patrick Kane was honored for scoring his 500th career NHL goal on Jan. 8 before the puck dropped, joined on the ice by his parents, significant other and son, and general manager Steve Yzerman, who chanced signing Kane in November 2023 in what turned out to be a good deal for both sides.
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Giving up two straight goals – to Drake Batherson, who knocked a rebound behind John Gibson at 4:26 and to Dylan Cozens on a power play at 5:05 after defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker flubbed a chance to clear the puck – was a bit of a downer, but the Wings got back in it quickly when they went on a power play at 5:22.
Axel Sandin-Pellikka, fresh off a performance that left him benched for all but two shifts in the previous game, scored at 7:16 on a shot from the point that flew by half a dozen players to sink behind former Wings goalie James Reimer. The Senators signed Reimer last week after their failing to find a serviceable goalie while Ullmark was on a leave of absence. (Mads Sogaard, a Senators second-round pick in 2019, has a 17.22 goals-against average from appearing less than one period in a game against the Colorado Avalanche.)
Kane assisted on Sandin-Pellikka’s goal to reach 1,372 points, three shy of passing metro Detroit native and former Red Wing Mike Modano (1,374) for most points by a U.S.-born player.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka (44) receives congratulations from center Emmitt Finnie after scoring in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.
The first period also featured a melee in front of the Senators bench that landed two players from each side in the penalty boxes, plus a third Sen serving a too many men penalty to gie the Wings a man advantage. There were also multiple scrums.
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Back and forth in the second
Lucas Raymond tied the game six minutes into the second period when he skated down the middle and and fired a shot past defender Jake Sanderson and into Ottawa’s net. Ridly Greig’s open-ice hit on Raymond around four minutes later left Raymond face down on the ice and in need of the team’s trainer and a trip down the tunnel, and gave the Wings another power play. (Raymond returned for the start of the third period.)
They didn’t score on that one, but did on the next one. Dylan Larkin fired a shot on net, with the rebound sliding to the front of the net. James van Riemsdyk got his stick on the puck, and managed to slip a backhand between his legs for his 13th goal of the season. The Wings’ first lead of the game, though, was leveled in the final minute of the second period when Shane Pinto tipped Claude Giroux’s shot, with former Wings forward David Perron picking up the second assist.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings veto Ottawa Senators’ upset bid in overtime